BJP,Left target Jairam crawl at Cancun

The BJP and the Left on Friday went hammer and tongs at Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh accusing him of blatantly shifting Indias long-held stand on climate change at Cancun and demanded that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh explain the crawl being taken under the garb of flexibility. In a sharp attack,the BJP asserted India would be held responsible for breaking the alliance of developing nations.Rameshs statement that all countries must take on binding commitment under an appropriate legal form a line which was not part of his prepared text left the Opposition fuming. It is not an error,but a conscious introduction, senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley said and pointed out that the flexibility has compromised Indias interest and the change in stance would only hinder Indias growth,fight against poverty and efforts towards industrialisation. He pointed out that Ramesh had in Parliament last year and in a letter written to him to some MPs later had asserted that New Delhi cannot and will not take on internationally legally binding emission reduction cuts. He has said he is working under a Cabinet mandate. Then we would like to know why Indias position has been changed? Why the assurances given to Parliament has been unilaterally revoked by the Minister…..We expect the Prime Minister to tell us is this the new position of India, he said.The CPM said the statement by Ramesh cannot seen as an individual one. It should be as representing the view of the UPA government. As in many other matters,the Manmohan Singh government is all too willing to align itself with the interests of the United States,even if it means going against the vital interests of the country, it said and asked the Government to reaffirm that it cannot agree to any legally binding emission cuts.Jaitley said after making the statement,Ramesh has chosen to play with words to argue that he did not mean India is going to take on legally binding commitments. This obvious contradiction is incomprehensible. Either the minister feels that he is too clever by half or that the nation is incapable of comprehending the mischief he is up to. The stand that the minister has taken is contrary to the parliamentary mandate, he said. He said Cancun has proved that Indias negotiating ability was at its worst. For long,India has been the cementing factor in all trade and climate talks. After Cancun,India will probably be held responsible for breaking of that alliance. It is a lose-lose situation for India. We will suffer drastically in terms of growth and the developing world will start distrusting out leadership… This stand does not represent Indias aspirations, Jaitley said.